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red hook cruise ship terminal

Health, News

Cruise Ship Air Pollution Response Stalled

April 4, 2012

A year ago, Mayor Bloomberg announced a deal to eliminate air pollution resulting from cruise ships having to run their diesel generators to supply power while docked at the Red Hook terminal. Under the agreement, the parties involved: the Port Authority, the suppliers and distributors of electricity, and the cruise line, would share the cost of installing and maintaining equipment allowing ships to take power from shoreside. Now, it appears, that deal has collapsed, and local residents will have to continue to breathe fumes from the ships’ generators.

New York Daily News Cruise ships docked in Brooklyn continue to choke Red Hook with their fumes — despite a widely touted deal a year ago that was supposed to solve the problem.

The Port Authority approved $15 million to build a system allowing ships to plug into an electric grid — but costs have shot up another $4.3 million and the agency hasn’t shelled out the extra money, according to local elected officials.

The Daily News story quotes Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and other local elected officials as noting that “[a]sthma rates among Red Hook youth are high”. Red Hook resident Adam Armstrong, author of the blog A View from the Hook, accuses the Port Authority of “twiddling their thumbs.” A Port Authority spokesman says the agency is “evaluating options”.


Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/6990

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